When will we say goodbye?

When President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi asks the government to review its dealings with the International Monetary Fund... he is a leader who is keen on the interest of his people, and when the head of the Fund responds to Egypt’s demands, this is shows Egypt’s status, its leadership role, and its international influence. The whole world is experiencing difficult economic conditions imposed by the wars that are expanding in our region, and before that, Coronavirus, which affected everything negatively. 

But what is the story of the International Monetary Fund?

The beginning of the idea of the International Monetary Fund, as a neutral global institution, appeared in 1944 with the aim of helping countries whose economies are going through difficult circumstances. This was at the Bretton Woods conference in the United States, Egypt is going through major political, economic, and security challenges...but the Egyptian people are able to endure the difficult circumstances.

But the question is: Why don’t we develop a plan to get rid of borrowing from the International Monetary Fund? I hope that we will soon say goodbye to the IMF.

There are many experiences of countries that we can emulate, such as Malaysia. In 1997, East Asian countries entered into a crisis due to foreign debt, and Malaysia decided to reject the conditions of the Fund. Various measures were implemented, and over the next two years its economy rebounded.

Brazil, whose economy collapsed in the 1980s and its debts reached 90 percent, and the World Bank was about to declare it bankrupt, decided not to rely on the Fund and developed its own program and relied on its people. Within 5 years, it achieved the miracle and the International Fund borrowed $14 billion from it, during the global crisis in 2008.

Why do we not put the Egyptian experience to be a pioneer in this field? Egypt, with the help of its people, its political will, the civilization of many years, the imminent opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, and the boom in tourism, can begin the journey of getting rid of the International Monetary Fund, and the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

I hope we say goodbye to the International Monetary Fund soon.